


Fighting Evil by Moonlight

by inu382



Series: Shuake Week 2020 [1]
Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Persona 5
Genre: Akechi Goro Attends Shujin Academy, Dialogue Heavy, Futaba is a good bro, M/M, Shuake Week 2020, So take it with a grain of salt, except i didn't remember anything from sailor moon, i rushed thiiisss, lol what is canon, my bad!, no beta we die like endymion, sailor moon/persona 5 crossover, they all attend Shujin academy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-16
Updated: 2020-11-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:54:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,418
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27591667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/inu382/pseuds/inu382
Summary: Goro Akechi moonlights as Sailor Moon (get it???)He's also in love with Akira Kurusu and hates the shit out of Tuxedo Mask--AKA Joker.For #shuakeweek day 1: Hope /Stars/ Fantasy
Relationships: Akechi Goro/Amamiya Ren, Akechi Goro/Kurusu Akira, Akechi Goro/Persona 5 Protagonist
Series: Shuake Week 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2016988
Comments: 12
Kudos: 70





	Fighting Evil by Moonlight

Day 1: Hope / **Stars** / Fantasy

* * *

Black, curly, messy hair. Thick glasses that did nothing to hide the sharpness of his gray eyes. Tall and lean, slouching just so, a lion attempting his best to look like a sheep. His every step was purposeful and smooth, fluid and dancer-like. His hands were stuffed in his pockets, school bag slung over his shoulder, unheeding of the stares he garnered as he cut lithely through the throngs of students.

“Fucking shit, Goro-chan, pay attention,” a high voice said suddenly, unamused.

Blinking quickly, Goro Akechi lifted his chin from his hand and turned to his friend, Haru Okumura. “Sorry, Haru-chan. Can you repeat what you just said?”

The fluffy-haired heiress sighed. “I don’t know why you don’t just say hi to him. You’re a year _older_ than him, Goro-chan. Honestly, though, we don’t have time for you to moon over him.”

Goro groaned, letting his head hit the table they sat at as they lounged outside. Their lunch break would soon be over and Haru was right—they still had quite a bit of business to discuss. They’d chosen that particular table because it was fairly private, too far away for many students to bother with during their already short breaks.

Sitting atop the table, black tail swishing back and forth, Morgana gave Goro an unimpressed look. “You’re the _leader_ , Goro. You need to have a level head in order for us to complete our mission.” Morgana glanced at the Crescent Moon Brooch adhered to Goro’s tie. “We need to keep training and improving our powers for next attack from our enemies.”

Goro sobered, sitting up as he nodded, “Right.”

Ann Takamaki, blonde curls bouncing as she leaned forward, smiled at them. “Chill out, Morgana. There hasn’t been an attack in a few days. It’s healthy for us to be normal people, too.”

“I agree entirely,” Yusuke Kitagawa said, his deep voice even and comforting, “If we should miss out on the beauty that is our student life, we’ll regret it. While we are beholden to our responsibilities as Sailor Guardians, we are equally responsible for our happiness.”

Makoto Niijima rolled her eyes as she pushed some of her short hair behind her ear. “Besides, we all know there’s no way to get Goro-kun’s attention when _Kurusu_ walks by.”

Goro groaned, letting his head fall forward onto the table again. “Please, shut up.”

“I just wish I understood why you like Akira so much,” Ann commented as she crossed her legs. “Especially when you have that hunk Tuxedo Mask panting after you.”

Goro’s eyes narrowed but the bell rang before he could talk, _at length_ , about _Tuxedo Mask_.

“Oh, good. Another useless meeting,” Haru huffed, but her tiny smile belied the acid in her words. Goro returned her smile with a fake one of his own, laughing when she gently slapped his arm. Each of them gave their goodbyes and split to their different classes, running so they wouldn’t be late.

With a sigh of relief, Goro arrived in his class just as the late bell rang. Shifting his bag to check on Morgana, who usually spent the school day hiding there, Goro moved towards his desk and huffed, promising himself he would focus squarely on his class and not any particularly gorgeous former criminals.

As if he could hear Goro’s thoughts, Morgana gave Goro serious side-eye as he wiggled into Goro’s desk.

* * *

Goro shivered as he dodged the attack from the monster of the week from the Dark Kingdom, his short skirt flaring up. It seemed that those four mysterious men had been ramping up their monster attacks to gather more energy, but it sucked that they had to attack in November and that their outfits didn’t seem to have a winter option.

Behind him, Haru giggled. “I forget that the transformation turns your underwear into a leotard.”

The brunet flushed. “I hate you.”

Haru laughed again, even as her hands shaped the signs in conjunction with her words of power and she let loose an explosion of fire at the monster. It screeched loudly and Goro winced in sympathy.

Haru could be quite forceful.

A year ago, Goro didn’t think he’d ever have such amazing friends or such an amazing destiny. He thought he was lucky enough when Wakaba Isshiki, an eccentric but kind scientist, found him in an orphanage and offered to adopt him.

But then Goro found Morgana.

Now, Goro moonlighted as Sailor Moon, the pretty sailor guardian (Ann insisted on the title). Since he and Morgana had begun their journey together, they’d amassed their full team together and were working on strategies to protect Ann, Sailor Venus and the Moon Princess.

Or…they were _supposed_ to be strategizing, but Goro had gotten distracted again, fantasizing about Akira Kurusu. And now, they were dealing with yet another monster attempting to drain enough energy for the Dark Kingdom. Clearly, Queen Beryl was quite tired of waiting for results and was having her lackeys ratchet up their attacks.

He was quick to catch movement out of the corner of his eye and dodged again when Zoisite, the pretentious prick, thrust their lethal petals at Goro. Goro grit his teeth, too far away now from the monster to cast Moon Healing Escalation to free the possessed person. Just as Zoisite let loose another attack, Yusuke’s Aqua Mist and Makoto’s Supreme Thunder attacks intercepted them. With a thankful grin, Goro twirled around and ran towards the monster, his Crescent Moon Wand in hand already.

Ann, her Venus whip on her hip, and Haru were still engaging it while attempting to leave the human unharmed. Goro was only a few steps away, but Zoisite teleported directly in front of the brunet, smirking obnoxiously.

“Well, Sailor Moon, I’d like to see you run from this,” he cackled, letting loose another flurry of cutting petals.

 _Great_ , Goro huffed inwardly, his left hand flying up to the tiara on his head as he held his other arm in front of his face, bearing the attack with a grimace. Panting at the pain, small cuts covering his whole body, Goro lifted his head to see that Zoisite had prepared his ice attack and a large, sharp icicle was heading right towards Goro.

Only to be shattered by a rose.

 _Greeaaat_ , Goro thought. With a scowl, he looked up, spotting the black-clad vigilante known as Tuxedo Mask.

“Need help, Princess?” he called with that stupid grin, large and serrated like the dagger he carried.

“Fuck off,” Goro called back. With Zoisite sufficiently distracted, Goro used his Moon Tiara to stun the Dark Kingdom Soldier. Thankfully, Haru and Ann had herded the monster close enough to both Goro and Zoisite. With a smirk, Goro lifted the Cresent Moon Wand and yelled, _“Moon Healing Escalation!”_

The monster shrieked as it was destroyed, the magic simultaneously healing the person and disintegrating the monster with waves of soothing light. Zoisite, too, was unable to withstand the attack and retreated with his usual promises to get revenge.

“We did it!” Ann cheered, running over and hugging Goro. Goro smiled at the blonde, patting her loose hair. The others gathered around Goro as well with smiles and congratulations.

“Good job, Sailor Guardians,” a smoky, _annoying_ voice interrupted them. With a groan, Goro turned around to face a smirking Tuxedo Mask.

“Yeah, thanks, you can leave now,” Goro groused.

“Or you can stay and celebrate with us!” Makoto insisted, the barely there blush on her cheeks drawing Goro’s ire.

Ann’s elbow dug into Goro’s side. “You should at least thank him for saving your butt.”

The fucking pest had the gall to bow. “I’ll gladly take a kiss from the princess.”

“Bite me.”

“I’ll be glad to do that, too.”

Goro let out a noise of frustration and swiftly turned on his heel—his actual heel, because these damn boots might as well have been stilettos as far as he was concerned—and stormed away. The others followed, the sound of Tuxedo Mask’s laughter chasing them.

* * *

“How’d it go tonight, princess?” Futaba Sakura asked, perched on her chair with her legs crossed and typing away at her giant, multi-monitor computer. Goro paid no mind to the various lines of code and flopped backwards on her bed with a groan.

“Do _not_ call me princess.”

“Oh, Joker was there again, wasn’t he?”

Goro sneered and, even though she never turned around, Futaba snickered as though she’d seen it.

When Wakaba initially adopted Goro two years ago, he already felt fortunate that someone had finally seen something in Goro worth loving. Then, he was introduced to the rest of his family—Sojiro and Futaba Sakura.

Though Wakaba never quite confirmed it, Goro suspected that the reason he was specifically sought after was because he and his adopted sister were really half-siblings with the same, deadbeat father. There really were too many similarities in the way they looked and the fact that both were geniuses in their own right.

Goro, at the age of 16, had earned an internship in the police as a junior detective and was quickly becoming an online influencer. Though he’d been approached by many companies, he refused to be managed by any of them. He preferred to work on his cases, slowly but surely finding the proof he needed to make his father— _their_ father—Masayoshi Shido pay for his crimes. Besides, he could manipulate the masses _without_ a manager, thank you very much.

Meanwhile, at 13. Futaba was a veritable technological wizard. She could hack into any database, network, TV station, radio, phone—anything that ran on electricity, essentially, Goro was convinced Futaba could hack it.

Now, they both worked together to expose their father’s crimes while attempting to hide it from their stepfather, Sojiro. Goro was sure the coffee shop owner and ex-secret service agent knew exactly what they were up to but was kind enough to feed them coffee and curry instead of deterring them.

Goro admittedly wanted to keep being a sailor guardian a secret from all of them, but he should have known that Futaba would find out. He’d already gotten used to having no privacy on his phone—she hacked it the moment they met—but even with his carefully constructed coded language that he insisted the others used when they communicated, Futaba easily decoded it and confronted him with CCTV shots of him in a short skirt and waving a moon-shaped wand.

She also laughed for about ten minutes straight, but Goro forgave her for that one.

Since they essentially had no secrets and Futaba was privy to everything, she became his de-facto sound board whenever he wanted to complain about Tuxedo Mask—AKA Joker.

“I don't get why you hate him so much,” she muttered, cursing as one of her monitors turned red. Goro threw an arm over his eyes, groaning. “I mean, he’s kinda show-offy, but he’s always there to help you in a jam.”

“But I don’t know his motives,” Goro said. “Other than that he seemingly wants the Silver Crystal himself. It’s clear he’s using us to further his own ambitions because he doesn’t have magical moon powers.”

Futaba snorted. “Oh my god.”

“Okay, _shut up_ ,” Goro hissed. “You act like I _enjoy_ calling them that.”

Morgana hopped up on the bed, resting on Goro’s stomach. “Please give your powers more dignity than that. You are the Sailor Guardians, destined to reunite the Moon Princess with the Legendary Silver Crystal so that she can defeat the Dark Kingdom and restore the glory of the—”

Goro hit Morgana with a pillow at the same time that Futaba threw an empty energy drink can towards them.

“Okay,” Futaba continued over Morgana’s yowling, “So he’s a little shady. He’s kinda cute. And he reaaally reminds me of someone.”

Goro rolled his eyes. “Not this again. Stop injecting your headcannons into the real world.”

“They literally have the same hair.”

“It’s literally the most popular hairstyle this season for people with curly hair, not that you can see his hair with that ridiculous top hat on.”

Futaba glanced back at him. “Googled that, did you? Is your hair out of style nowadays, Detective Prince-san?”

Goro turned his nose up at her. “I will never go out of style.”

Under the pillow, Morgana whined. “ _How_ are you the leader of the Sailor Guardians again?”

“Because I’m a nice person that saved your dumb cat face.”

Morgana shook his head and Futaba burst out laughing. “Seriously, Gororo. You and Joker are just _made_ for each other.”

* * *

Sometimes Goro had dreams.

He dreamed of staring up at the stars, at a blue, blue planet.

He dreamed that his mother wanted his hair to be as obnoxiously long as hers, and he cut it often just because _he_ liked it better that way.

He dreamed that he liked the storm clouds of earth, because they looked like _his_ eyes.

Sometimes he dreamed he was crying, crying, crying…

because _he_ was gone.

* * *

Although Goro didn’t like to give Futaba’s ideas any credence, it _was_ a bit suspicious that Tuxedo Mask appeared around the same time as Akira Kurusu.

Goro wasn’t privy to the exact details, but he knew that Akira had been sent to Sojiro because he was under probation for a crime. He’d been shipped to live with Sojiro to serve out his sentence and the man—somewhat cruelly, in Goro’s opinion—had Akira live in the attic space of the coffee shop instead of with them in their apartment. Granted, their apartment was just big enough for their little family, but at least their apartment had a shower that didn’t involve walking outside.

Regardless, Akira never complained and even worked part time in the coffee shop to show his gratitude. It made Goro wonder what Akira had left behind that a coffee shop attic was somehow better.

Unfortunately, Kamoshida, their rotten gym teacher and volleyball coach, had forced one of the students to expose Akira’s circumstances, making him the school pariah. As much as people whispered about him, Akira didn’t seem to care, gliding silently through the students as though they were water. Goro, already taken in by those deep gray eyes and that smooth, smoky voice of his, grew to respect Akira’s character more. It inspired him to do better as student council vice president and fight back, despite his previous attempts at ridding the school of Kamoshida not going well. With help from Ann—who enlisted Akira and their mutual friend, Ryuji Sakamoto—Goro obtained the files he needed to prove the abuse claims about Kamoshida and the man was swiftly arrested.

Despite working together to take down Kamoshida and practically living together, though, Goro and Akira were not close.

Goro just couldn’t talk around Akira. The curly-haired teen took it in stride, memorizing Goro’s coffee order after the first three times Goro stuttered through it. Akira also generally wasn’t much of a talker. His voice was low, smooth, enveloping and—as though he knew the power of that magnetic voice—he tended to speak in actions more than words.

Admiring Akira so much from afar; seeing the determination burning in Akira’s eyes as he did his best, whether it was serving coffee or doing his schoolwork; and watching Akira talk to students to help them through their problems when he and Makoto, as student council leaders, failed…

Well, was it any wonder Goro developed a bit of a crush?

It was also why Goro was unable to connect the quiet, studious, but clearly charismatic Akira with the obnoxious, show-boating, asshole that was Joker.

Or at least that was the name that Goro had christened him the first time they met.

Still, Goro thought as he walked to school with Ann, the blonde happily chattering away about Shiho’s recovery, maybe Tuxedo Mask wasn’t as bad as Goro believed.

* * *

Goro grunted as he fell back, the weird monster’s attack knocking the wind out of him. He knew something had been weird about Hifumi’s mother and seeing the normally kind, if sometimes over-involved woman attacking Hifumi and yelling something about gathering human energy was unfortunately enough to prove that 1) the talking cat was not a hallucination and 2) maybe he ought to throw the tiara like the fucking cat said so that he stood a chance.

“Goro! Do it now! Say Moon Tiara Frisbee!”

“The _fuck_ do you expect me to say?” Goro shouted as he dodged another attack. The tiara tumbled out of his hands however, leaving Goro open. The monster, Morga, laughed high and shrilly as Goro thought about how a middle-aged woman with questionable fashion was going to be his death.

“Time to die, sailor guardian!” Morga extended her arm towards Goro, long whore-red nails intent on piercing through the brunet.

Until a single fucking rose somehow interceded the attack.

With a screech, Morga retracted her long arm and cradled it close to her chest, hissing at the newcomer that was…

“Why the hell are you in the ceiling?” Goro deadpanned.

The idiot in a tuxedo and a harlequin mask grinned. “Maybe you should throw your boomerang now, Princess.”

Goro’s eyes narrowed but, recognizing the greater danger here, he leapt towards the discarded tiara and—despite the blow to his pride—cried out “ _Moon Tiara Frisbee_!” as he hurled the glowing headpiece towards the monster. Thankfully, it managed to destroy Morga fairly easily and the tiara returned to Goro’s hands.

The dumbass in black hopped down from the rafters of the store and bowed in front of Goro. “Glad to be of assistance, Princess. Also…frisbee?”

“I didn’t say thank you,” Goro replied. “What the hell are you supposed to be? Some kind of joker?”

The man straightened and shrugged. “I go by Tuxedo Mask, but you can call me whatever you like, gorgeous. And I assumed that you were extremely grateful for my assistance.”

Goro’s nose wrinkled. “Laying it on thick, Joker. Thanks for throwing apparently lethal shrubbery at the jewelry demon. Why did you help me?”

“Just can’t stand to see pretty things like you in danger,” he hummed, smiling at Goro. Despite himself, Goro felt his cheeks burning.

“You’re lying,” the brunet replied, because being flattered wasn’t enough to dull his bullshit meter.

That soft smile grew, large and a bit unhinged. “Yeah. I am.”

And somehow, in a flurry of rose petals, the man disappeared. Goro threw up his arm to shield his eyes and, when the flurry died down, all that was left were a few stray petals and a single red rose. He and Morgana looked around the store, but the man had truly teleported out seemingly. Content that there was no more danger, Goro released his transformation and ran to check on Hifumi.

While he called the police and checked on his friend’s vitals, his mind kept going back to the mysterious stranger who thought it was appropriate to flirt during a battle.

 _Right after Shido and all this craziness,_ Goro thought, hugging an amnestic Hifumi, _I’m coming for you, Joker._

* * *

The bell above the door chimed as Goro pulled it open, holding the door for Ann, Makoto, Yusuke, and Haru. As usual, Sojiro and Akira stood behind the counter; Sojiro watching the TV while leaning against the doorway to the kitchen and Akira cleaning the counters. They both nodded hello to the teens that walked in and claimed their usual table, where Futaba was already sitting and playing on her laptop.

“That fucker is totally the imposter,” Goro heard her mutter as he sat beside her.

“Stop hacking the game to cheat,” he chided, crossing his legs and letting Morgana out of his bag.

“I didn't this time!” she insisted.

Makoto sat across from Futaba, chuckling at them. Morgana opted to sit in Makoto’s lap. Ann squeezed herself close with Goro, practically sitting on Goro’s lap, and Yusuke gestured for Haru to take the seat beside Makoto so he could sit on the outside. Goro glanced at them, then pointedly looked at the blonde beside him.

“Ann.”

“Yes?”

Goro pouted. “There’s more than enough room without you suffocating me.”

Ann groaned, laying her head on Goro’s shoulder. “But I _want_ to suffocate you.”

The others merely laughed at Goro’s misfortune. He swore swift revenge against them after they found the damn crystal. The sound of small, bell-like clinks drew Goro out of his schemes to forge Makoto’s report card and to replace all of Yusuke’s paint with Crayola brand. Akira stood at the end of the table, serving them all coffee as quietly as ever.

As usual, Goro felt the deep flush that always covered his cheeks creeping up and sunk deeper into the booth. Beside him, Futaba snickered, and he maliciously tapped various keys on her laptop until she screeched at him.

Not like usual, though, Akira didn’t seem to walk away from the table. This time, he continued standing there, staring at them. Or rather…staring at Goro. Confused, Goro stared back until he realized that yes, Akira was staring in Goro’s direction, but he was actually staring at _Ann_.

 _Oh, no_ , Goro fretted. _Is he actually straight?_

Akira cleared his throat, catching the attention of the others who were in deep conversation over something. They all turned to him, with the exception of Futaba.

“Ann,” he said, deep voice rumbling out of his chest. Ann perked up and Goro was again struck at the power Akira so effortlessly wielded. “Can you get off of Akechi?”

Slowly, every movement under Akira’s watchful eye, Ann slid off of Goro and properly sat beside him in the booth. Akira nodded, glanced once at Goro, then turned around and walked back to the counter. Sojiro quietly watched everything unfold as well, shaking his head once the curly-haired teen walked past him into the kitchen.

With Akira out of sight, the table finally exhaled in relief.

Ann leaned forward, whispering frantically. “Is it just me, or did it seem like Akira was going to _kill me??_ ”

Yusuke was already sketching, something dark and predatory. “It did indeed seem that way,” he replied, opting not to whisper.

“What the hell was that?” Makoto whispered back. “I mean, I know he’s got a record, but I always thought the assault thing was some story Kamoshida made up!”

Haru nodded. “The way he looked just now, he really seemed like he was going to attack Ann.”

Futaba snickered. “Akira doesn’t want anyone touching what’s his.”

They all immediately turned towards Goro, who turned bright red. “Th-That can’t be. I mean, I’ve mooned— _shut up_ , Futaba—over Akira for months now and he’s never noticed.”

Futaba glanced at him slyly. “Or maybe he knows you hate the other side of him and he doesn’t know how to approach you without telling you.”

Goro rolled his eyes. “Not this again.”

“You really think Akira is moonlighting as Tuxedo Mask? You really think he’d risk his probation?” Makoto asked.

Futaba shrugged. “Akira doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy who cares about rules too much, especially when they don’t benefit him.”

“Very true,” Ann nodded sagely. “He was the one who broke into Kamoshida’s office to help me get those files.”

“He’s also very athletic, I’ve noticed,” Haru commented, finger tapping her chin, “He helps me sometimes with gardening and he can really easily lift like three bags of soil at a time.”

Yusuke hadn’t looked up from his sketch, but even he interjected, “I have commissioned him to do various poses for me for my art and he is exceptionally flexible.”

Goro glared at Futaba as he polished off his coffee. “You’ve sucked them all into your conspiracy theory.”

Futuba grinned back. “If my so-called conspiracy theory is right, _you_ have to give me your Featherman action figure collection.”

“I will _die_ before I ever bet on those!”

“I’ll be good! I promise I won’t scratch any of them!”

“You want to take them out of the box!?”

“Coffee,” a deep voice interrupted. They all jumped and turned towards Akira, who had reappeared again while they were sucked into their argument. With a small smirk, the dark-haired teen refilled Goro’s coffee and walked away.

Only Goro’s coffee.

“Oh dang, he is laying down his claim, isn’t he?” Futaba muttered.

“Goro and Akira sitting in a tree!” Ann sang, “Doing something we can’t see!”

Goro groaned and hid behind his gloved hands. “I hate you all.”

“But we can hear it and it probably sounds like this,” Ann continued and started making embarrassing noises that Goro scrambled to cover.

* * *

“I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you,” Tuxedo Mask said suddenly. Goro turned towards him, eyebrow raised.

After a close-call, where Ann—Sailor V—managed to save Goro from Zoisite, Tuxedo Mask managed to convince Goro to meet him in the park at the fountain.

“…Why do you want the Silver Crystal?”

Grey eyes hidden behind a white mask locked onto Goro. “I keep getting these flashes of a life I don’t remember living, but that I’m sure must be mine. I remember the crystal. I thought getting it would help me remember who I was.”

“And now?”

The other man smiled sadly. “Now, I just want to protect you. But the enemies you face are getting stronger and I don’t have the power to do so. So, I’m sorry.”

Goro sighed deeply. “First of all, I don’t need you to protect me.” Tuxedo Mask snorted at that, but Goro graciously ignored him. “Second of all, _I’m_ the one with the magical moon powers, so _I_ should be protecting _you_.”

“…Magical moon powers.”

Goro flicked Joker’s forehead even as the other teen laughed.

“Why do you want to protect me?” Goro asked quietly.

The masked teen leaned over, gently kissing Goro. Goro’s eyes flew open and then slowly slid closed as he surrendered to the kiss.

“Tuxedo Mask…” Goro whispered.

“I think I like it better when you call me Joker,” he sighed, leaning in for another kiss.

* * *

During his time at Shujin, Goro had made friends, but none of them were very close. Hifumi was the exception for a long while, but they drifted apart as their careers took more and more time away. Goro still cared deeply for Hifumi—enough to run headfirst towards a monster to save her—but they didn’t hang out much. He was also somewhat close with Makoto, but that relationship was strained for a while; working closely with her sister, Sae, and generally beating Makoto in every academic benchmark tended to rub Makoto the wrong way.

And then Goro—literally—ran into Ann. The blonde had been crying as she ran, bumping into Goro and knocking the brunet over. He calmed her down, assured her everything was fine, and insisted on buying her a crepe.

They immediately bonded over sweets and, finding a fellow sugar connoisseur, agreed to try out different places together. After a few more hangouts, Ann finally opened up to Goro about what had caused her to cry.

Kamoshida.

Goro had only ever experienced that level of rage once before—when he found out who his father was and how that low-life had abandoned his mother. Fists clenched and teeth grit, Goro swore to Ann that, as student council vice president and as her friend, he would avenge Shiho and get rid of Kamoshida.

And he did—with Akira’s lock picking skills, Ryuji offering himself as a distraction, and Ann’s trust in them, they managed to secure everything they needed to ensure Kamoshida would be arrested.

What Ann _didn’t_ know was that Goro knew it wouldn’t be enough to lock Kamoshida away for a long time. And so, despite it not exactly being ethical, Goro forged more evidence to ensure that Kamoshida would be locked away for the rest of his life.

After that, Goro and Ann were inseparable. They told each other everything and there wasn’t a day that went by that they didn’t somehow talk to each other. When Goro first became Sailor Moon, Ann was the first person to find out. Even after finding out that Ann had secretly been Sailor V for a while—a very klutzy one who kind of sucked at crime-fighting—Goro forgave her for hiding it from him and easily welcomed her into the group of Sailor Guardians. Goro knew that Ann did it to protect him because she tended to bear burdens on herself for her friends.

Goro had hoped that, after everything with Shiho and after fighting together for so long, Ann would realize she could trust him to bear her burden.

So, when he found out that Ann had chosen to confront Kunzite alone, after everything they’d been through, he understandably felt betrayed.

But he pushed aside the hurt because he knew Ann only did it to protect them, like she always did. It certainly didn’t mean he wasn’t going to give her a piece of his mind.

“What are you guys doing here?” Ann cried, panting from the force of Kunzite’s attack.

“We’re here to help you, you fucking idiot!” Goro cried. “We’re your friends! You don’t have to do this alone anymore!” Goro grasped her hands, fighting against the stinging in his eyes. “We love you, Ann— _I_ love you! Stop shutting me out. Let me protect you for once!”

The others around them agreed and Ann nodded, sniffling through her tears and hugging Goro tight. Together at last, they all attacked Kunzite, giving Goro a window to try to attack the white-haired man. Their attacks weren’t enough, however, and Goro got blasted off of Tokyo Tower. As the others floated in Makoto’s static orb, Goro fell down and thought about his life choices.

He was going to die at the hands of a man who modeled his aesthetic after Colonel Sanders. Lovely.

Just as he swore to haunt everyone who ever wronged him, a black shadow rushed towards him, catching him and taking them back to the tower. Opening his eyes, Goro looked up into grey eyes behind a harlequin mask.

“Joker?!” he cried.

The man smirked back. “Hi, Princess Akechi.”

Goro groaned. “ _Akira_.”

“Took you long enough.” Joker—no, _Akira_ —suddenly glanced away, hunching in on himself even as his arms held Goro securely. “Do you…do you still hate me?”

“A little bit,” Goro sighed. “I probably owe Futaba something for being wrong about this. That being said,” Goro wrapped his arms around Akira’s shoulders, kissing the other teen fiercely. Just as Akira started to respond, Goro pulled away, pecked Akira’s cheek once more, and then winked.

“I’m not so angry that I can’t say thank you for saving my life…again.”

Akira grinned, large and wide and beatific, and Goro felt so full and light and shivery to know _he_ had caused it. “Anytime, Princess.”

“Now, you stay here,” Goro drew himself out of Akira’s arms. “I have some ass to kick.”

“With your magical moon powers?”

Goro gave him a nasty smirk. “The ones I have and you don’t, yes. Now, shut up and let me protect you, okay?” He jumped back into the fray, determination renewed.

And of course, despite Goro’s warnings, Akira was determined to protect Goro this time.

* * *

They met again in the park one night.

After the long battle, after a truly astonishing number of tears (that Goro would never admit to), and after accepting their pasts and choosing to live for their futures, Goro found Akira reading in the park.

With a smile, the brunet held up the pocket watch. “I think this belongs to you.”

Akira chuckled, taking Goro’s hand and drawing the brunet to sit beside him. He pulled out a white and tan handkerchief, embroidered with Goro’s name. “I think I have something of yours, too.”

“Do you want to trade?”

Akira pulled Goro closer, leaning their foreheads together. “Nah. Keep it. That way people know you’re mine.”

Goro snorted. “You’ve practically tattooed your name on my ass, the way you act around people.”

Akira grinned, wide and serrated like the dagger he always had hidden on his person. “Don’t give me any ideas.”

“Just kiss me, idiot.”

“As you wish, Princess Serenity.”

“Oh, fuck o—”

Akira kissed him. Goro huffed, but wrapped his arms around Akira’s shoulders, drawing the other teen in. They stayed intertwined together for a long time, underneath the moon and the stars.

And no children fell out of the sky to ruin the second season.

**Author's Note:**

> Originally, I was going to do pieces that finished “Don’t Forget Me” for #shuake week, but uhh…
> 
> My fucking job!!
> 
> Don’t get me wrong, love it to death, but now I had no gotdamn time. So, instead, I decided to do a bunch of one shots for each prompt and they’re all AU.
> 
> Playing fast and loose with canon here lol


End file.
